After all, what good is it to be achieving goals if you don’t feel good enough to enjoy your life!

Today, we move on to Step Four:

Realizing your potential. Achieving your dreams means you have to believe in yourself. You can’t set self-imposed limits on who you are, who you can become and what you can do. You’ve probably heard the saying

“If you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re right!”

Dreams happen first in the mind so if you dream small, you will achieve small but if you dream big, you will achieve big and great things!

I learned this lesson through one of my clients Rick Hansen, a famous Canadian. When Rick was 16 years old, he was in a car accident and suffered a spinal cord injury losing the use of his legs. Initially he went through a phase of anger, depression and resentment. But at one point,he had to make the personal decision to either focus on Read the rest of Achieving Your Goals and Dream Life – Step Four

Today, we discuss the 3rd Step to achieving your Dream Life – Eating like a Champion. To reiterate, it’s difficult to live your dream life, if you don’t feel good. Think of your body like a high performance race car. You’ve got to fuel it correctly if you want it to perform and function optimally.

There really is no trick to eating well. It’s stuff we have all heard before. Drink lots of water. Consume a high level of fruits and vegetables. Eat a balanced diet. Minimize alcohol and sugar intake. Control your portion sizes. But there seems to be a gap between knowing what to do and actually adhering to these simple guidelines. There is no special grapefruit, cabbage, Low-protein or High-protein diet or pill that will get you the results you want quickly. And knowledge alone is not power! We all know what we have to do! It is finding the motivation and inspiration to make and adhere to very small changes in our nutrition plan that will facilitate success.Finding the motivation to stick to a healthy nutrition plan day-in-day-out is all it takes. Here’s the good news – you don’t have to starve yourself and you don’t have to limit your diet to bean sprouts and broccoli.

With nutrition, the very small changes to your eating habits will often bring about big differences. The new habits just need to be consistent and ongoing on a long-term basis. Perhaps start with one area at a time. Once you have that habit mastered, tackle the next nutrition goal. One step at a time and soon your diet will provide you with all the nutrients necessary to reaching your personal best.

The bad news is that it’s a lot easier to put the calories in than it is to take the calories out. Think of it this way. How long does it take to burn 1000 calories? About 90 minutes of exercise or 10 miles of running! How long does it take to consume 1000 calories? In about 5-10 minutes! So nutrition is at least half the battle!

Bottom Line:

Whether you commit to a plant based, raw food, Paleo, modified vegetarian or any other type of dietary approach, we can all agree that we need to eat foods that are nutrient-dense, calorically inexpensive and that suppress our appetite. Foods that you give you the best bang for your buck, so to speak! To summarize, these critical foods are:

Fruits & Vegetables

Beans & Legumes

Lean Meats/Poultry/Fish or other non-meat, high protein choices (Tofu, quinoa)

In contrast, you will need to avoid foods that are nutrient-poor, calorically expensive and stimulate your appetite. These include processed foods such as candy, chocolate, fast food, muffins, chips, cookies, pastries, soda….foods packed with salt and sugar and preservatives! Read the rest of Achieving Your Goals and Dream Life – Step Three

Last week we discussed the importance of creating a map for all realms of your life so that every initiative and action you take points you towards your goals and your dream life. Do not underestimate the power of Step #1 – that’s why it’s number one!

Today, we move onto….

Step Two: Get Physical!

Since I’m a fitness professional, you had to know we’d be going here right? But it’s true that it’s hard to be great if you don’t feel great. It’s hard to live your best life and achieve all your dreams if you’re not at your physical best. Unfortunately, more than half of our population is overweight or obese and out of shape. The International Journal of Obesity released a report that says we expend about 500-800 calories less per day than we did a few decades ago. All the labor saving devises like remote controls, escalators, elevators, moving walkways and the internet that are supposed to be making our lives easier are in fact making us sick and slowly killing us. If you think about it, that’s equivalent to a 5-8 mile run! That’s how much less we move our bodies today! Daily movement is absolutely critical to counteract our sedentary society.

The Surgeon General released a finding that said we need to move our bodies about 30 minutes a day to increase our health. The finding wasn’t referring to exercise but rather just being active with household chores, walking the dog, cleaning the house, mowing the lawn etc. I remember thinking that I can’t believe a government official would have to make a public announcement to just move our bodies 30 minutes a day. But the sad reality is that most people don’t. Think of the average North American day. We wake up, sit to have breakfast, get in the car and drive to work, sit at a computer all day perhaps working right through lunch with interoffice email not even requiring us to leave our desk to communicate with a co-worker, get back in our cars to drive home, sit to eat dinner and then lay on the couch all night watching TV. When you add up the actual minutes of movement it doesn’t even add up to 30 minutes. That’s a sad reality. But in America, instead of fixing the problem, we accommodate the problem. There are entire industries creating products and offering services to accommodate our bigger butts. We don’t want to make someone feel uncomfortable so we build bigger chairs and airline seats!

Something’s got to give and hopefully it won’t be our hearts.

So yes, you have to move your bodies – every day! And one of the things I’ve learned after being a fitness professional for 25 years is that exercise is 10% physical and 90% mental. My biggest obstacle when working with clients is helping them to change their mindset so they catch the ‘fitness bug’ and exercise becomes a lifestyle habit like brushing their teeth or taking a shower. In the beginning most people find exercise a chore and they actually hate it but eventually, if you stick with it long enough, you will notice your days are better when you workout, you may look forward to workouts and actually enjoy them! Eventually, you want to workout and actually need exercise and then you’re hooked for life!

Working in the fitness industry for 25 years, I’ve noticed that there are certain things that those who are successful at achieving their goals do on a regular basis. I’ve narrowed it down to the top 10 Tips and will share those tips over the next few weeks to help you as you prepare to launch your 2014 year – potentially the best year of your life!

Early in my career I used to get so frustrated if a client wouldn’t do what I knew they needed to do to achieve the results they wanted. I used to bang my head against the wall trying to figure out how to motivate them. Then one day, I was on a hike with my daughter Brianna and I learned my biggest lesson about goals and dreams.

We had just hiked Beacon Rock in WashingtonState, a beautiful scenic hike with amazing views of the Gorge and the Columbia River. I was getting my daughter situated in her car seat when a pick up truck pulled up beside us and two women jumped out to have a smoke. They each lit their cigarettes and then one looked towards the top of the rock that we had just climbed and stated “You know, people actually hike to the top of that rock!” The other gal took a long drag on her cigarette, looked up and then exclaimed “Why in the world would anyone ever want to do that?!”

My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe she had just said that! I thought she would say something like “Gosh, I wish I was in good enough shape to do something like that!” or “I would love to do that” or “Maybe one day I will be able to do that!” But she had no desire, no interest for ever hiking to the top of that rock. And without any will, there is no way. So no matter what I said or programmed or suggested, nothing I could do would ever convince her to summit that rock. There was no compelling reason for her!

So it taught me that I have to help people figure out their ‘why?’ Once there is a will, there is way. But without a compelling force, success is so much more difficult. The motivation and inspiration to stick to your program or your goals is within you. You have just got to find the right reason – the reason that will make you so emotionally charged that you will take action, make the changes and stick to them regularly – no matter what!

Here is an example to demonstrate this phenomenon. Let’s imagine that you are on the 28th floor of a sky-rise building. There is a small wooden plank that extends from the window of your building to the building on the opposite side of the street. In the other building, there is a man who is holding a $10 bill and will give it to you if you walk across the plank to the other side. You look down 28 flights and you see the cars speeding by and your stomach turns into a knot. Would you go for $10? No way! How about $100? Probably not! Would you go for $1000? Still, no way! It is not worth it! But now imagine, the man is threatening to shoot one of your closest loved ones – your spouse, your daughter, son, grandchild – if you do not walk over. Now, there is a different story. You would probably, without a doubt, without even thinking about it, walk the plank. You can see by the example that the ability to walk the plank is always there. If the plank was on the first floor it would be no big deal – you could easily do it. It is never a question of ability! You just need to find that reason to walk the plank – to do something you would really rather not do. Perhaps just losing 10 pounds or decreasing your risk for cardiovascular disease is like $10 – just not enough reason to walk the plank or take action towards your goals. You will need to get more emotionally charged in order to stick to your plan. Discover what it is going to take for you and remember, everyone is different. What is going to motivate me is not necessarily going to motivate you. Keep asking yourself why, why, why and get to the heart of the matter![divider][/divider]

I recently was the Keynote speaker for the “Dream Big” program which is an organization that helps kids create dreams, determine action steps to achieve those dreams and directs them towards resources that will help them make those dreams a reality. Working in the fitness industry for 25 years, I’ve noticed that there are certain things that those who are successful at achieving their goals do on a regular basis. I’ve narrowed it down to 10 Top Tips and shared these at my presentation. Over the next number of weeks, I will share these tips with you and help you you launch into the holidays and into the New Year with some serious motivation! There is nothing that brings me more joy than knowing I’ve helped someone achieve their personal best and live their life to the fullest. To start, I wanted to share this quote with you…

“When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn’t matter. Am I tired? That doesn’t matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem.” Emil Zatopek

You know I’m in the fitness industry so you gotta know that one of my Top 10 Tips is to take care of your physical being. I’m a firm believer that it’s hard to do great things if you don’t feel great. It’s hard to live your dream life if you aren’t striving for your personal best. Taking the time to take care of yourself positively impacts and trickles into every aspect of your life. So as you start to plan your health and fitness plan for 2014, what will you do to challenge yourself and see what you’re made of? Consider how much discipline it takes to workout three to five days a week. Think about how hard it is to keep stretching beyond our comfort zones and how challenging it is to exercise at a high intensity. Consider the self-resolve required to eat healthy foods and drink lots of water every day when temptations surround us everywhere we go.

But if you have the courage to respect your body – the temple that houses your mind and spirit –achieving your goals will not be far away.

It says a lot about who you are as a person when you invest the time to take care of yourself. It says you respect and love yourself enough to do the things necessary for you to be at your personal best.

Each time you get into the gym for a workout on a day when you just don’t feel like exercising, you grow a little stronger as a human being.

Each time you go for a run or walk on a cold winter’s day when you just feel like staying under the warm, cozy covers, you strengthen your character.

When you endure a tough workout, it enables you to persevere through any other challenge in your life.

Working on improving your physical conditioning will not only enrich your life and make you a better person, you’ll also become a better parent, a better spouse, a better and more productive worker, and a better friend.

Exercise gives us a lot more than just a great set of abs!

Exercising regularly, eating well and taking the time to relax and nourish your body will make you feel happier.

It will provide you with more energy than you have ever known.

It will give you greater stamina, mental toughness and make you a clearer, stronger thinker.

It will make you more patient and loving.

There are 168 hours in a week. Surely each and every one of us regardless of our hectic schedules can carve out four or five of them to care for our bodies and work on mastering our physical state. And you must remember that……

…… a missed workout is much more than just a missed workout (or not doing something that you committed to doing)!

When you miss a workout, you don’t just stay at the same level you were at – you actually take a few steps back. Every time you miss a workout, you have done something to strengthen the habit of not working out. When you’ve made the promise to yourself to exercise so many times per week and then you break that promise, you start to lose trust in yourself. With each missed workout, you start to lose self-confidence and begin to question whether you can actually stick with it at all. A missed workout fuels self-doubt and makes that negative habit stronger. Miss enough workouts, and eventually that negative habit of not working out will replace the positive habit of exercising that you have worked so hard to cultivate. Every time you fail to do the right thing, you fuel the habit of doing the wrong thing. So the next time you’re trying to justify pressing the snooze button and skipping your workout, or working through lunch instead of taking a walk break or heading right home after work instead of stopping at the gym, just don’t do it. Don’t even think about it. Don’t even allow yourself the opportunity to talk yourself out of doing what you know you need to do to be at your best. Just remember that you’ll feel like a million bucks once you’re done. The real challenge for most people is not the workout itself, but actually overcoming the negative thoughts that try to sabotage your very good intentions. Remember results are not guaranteed, they are earned! Stay tuned next week when I begin to share my Top 10 Tips for Achieving your Dream Life.

Yours in Health & Fitness, Sherri McMillan

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Did you notice that the day after Halloween, stores had all the Christmas and holiday merchandising up? Yep, Holiday season is upon us so it’s a good idea to be proactive and have a plan for maintaining your health and fitness during the festive season. I had a client ask me the following…

“During the holidays I am so busy. So what’s the least amount of exercise I can do to maintain my fitness so I don’t have to start all over come January?”

It’s true that during the holidays we can get so busy decorating the house, buying presents, attending parties, and entertaining guests that the last thing on our minds is our exercise program. But, if you’ve worked hard all year to achieve your current fitness level, the last thing you want to do is take the “all or nothing” approach during the holidays and let it all go to pot. Starting from scratch come January is never fun!

Having a few days off from exercise over the holidays is OK. It may help give your mind and body a rest and help to motivate you to work harder in the New Year. But, if you don’t want to get out of the rhythm of your exercise commitment, here’s a few tips to help you stick to your programwhen there are so many other responsibilities demanding your attention:

Maria Kang, a mother of 3, was recently inundated with negative comments after posting the following photo. Some people said it was “bullying” or “fat-shaming” and that her intent to motivate others actually back-fired.

I can understand why the negative comments surfaced. People don’t like the prideful boasts that basically say “Look at me. Look at how good I look even though I’ve got 3 kids under 3 years old. What’s your problem? Get your act together?” And a photo like this doesn’t account for the fact that some people will never look like this no matter how hard they exercise and how disciplined they are so it may make people feel poorly about themselves even if they are doing all the right things.

But with all that said, there is some truth to what Maria is suggesting.

There will always be excuses that you can become victim to!

There will always be someone with more kids than you that still finds the time to exercise and eat well. There will always be someone who is busier than you…someone who travels more than you do…someone who has less money than you…someone who is older than you…someone who is in more pain than you…someone who is more out of shape than you…there will always be someone who is struggling with obstacles and excuses and yet, still figures it out. They do what they need to do to be at their best! So no matter what excuse you are using to convince yourself that you can’t commit to exercise and healthy eating, sorry, you need to get over it and start taking action. No more excuses!You deserve better than that!

Here’s a list of some of the common excuse and how you can overcome them:

Changing Your Workout Focus for Fall and Winter

In the summer, I’m always outside cycling, running, and hiking but as the weather gets a little colder and the nights a little darker, I find I spend a lot less time outdoors. So since my outdoor activity level drops, I look for opportunities to stay active and healthy indoors and my fitness program tends to evolve and transition towards different activities. And I’m not alone. All gyms including our Personal Training studio experience an influx of clients coming back to seek refuge from the colder, wetter NW weather.

So if you are storing your road bike for the winter, now would be a great opportunity to start taking an indoor cycling class or purchase a Wind Trainer that you can hook your bike to and still cycle indoors. If you like water sports, you might sign up for an Indoor Rowing program or enroll in a Masters Swim program. If you like to dance, you’d love a Zumba class. You might register for a Yoga, Core Conditioning or Pilates program. Use this as an opportunity to try something new or to focus on an area that you’d like to improve on.

I personally use the fall and winter months to start using my Indoor Rockclimbing membership at The Source Rockclimbing gym again. I will also ramp up my weight training and indoor classes. However, I do still get outdoors and run all year long. As long as I have the right gear, I don’t mind running in the wet and cold weather. Plus it ensures I still soak up some vitamin D and get some fresh air. I believe that helps a lot with preventing Seasonal Affective Disorder that many people experience in the Northwest.

Releasing Muscle Aches and Pains

About a week ago we had a couple thousand gals participate in the Girlfriends Half Marathon to benefit the Susan G. Komen for a Cure and the KearneyBreastCenter. So we’ve got a number of ladies feeling a little stiff, myself included! I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to discuss different techniques I use when I’m feeling sore.

Prevention:

The best way to treat extreme muscle soreness is to prevent it in the first place. You’ll experience the greatest amount of stiffness when you are doing something new and/or at a higher intensity than you’re used to. So if you ease into any new activities and make sure you train and progress correctly, you should minimize the amount of soreness you experience.

Life After Breast Cancer….

Anyone who has ever been diagnosed with Breast Cancer realizes that the cancer experience does not end the day that treatment ends. You want to get back to your normal life and put cancer behind you but at that same time, you’re dealing with all kinds of post-Cancer Treatment effects that affect your physically, emotionally and spiritually.

The Effects of Breast Cancer Surgery & Treatment

Breast Cancer Surgery will typically result in:

Pain to the affected areas

Tightness in the chest, underarms, sides, and abdominals

Reduced range of motion in the shoulder

Postural deviations such as internal shoulder rotation and hunched shoulders and upper back

Decreased Bone Mineral Density and loss of muscle as a result of Chemotherapy and Radiation. The loss in Bone and Muscle one year after chemo and radiation is the same as 10 year losses in women! Read the rest of Life After Breast Cancer